Perhaps you have heard that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney misled voters in his much-publicized speech addressing his Mormonism on Dec. 6th? To prove that Mormons are normal (i.e. not racist), Romney spoke about how he saw his father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, march with Martin Luther King Jr. in the sixties. Because that is what normal people did back then. My own parents marched constantly with prominent civil rights leaders in the sixties, and I know of no two people who are less racist and more normal, or who have worse knees.

But, as the NYT writes, politicians often have a way of taking a kernel of truth, watering it and sprinkling liberally upon it the Miracle Gro of exaggeration until it blossoms into a beautiful, knee-high lie. People have been accusing Mitt of lying about his father and MLK, saying that it is chronologically impossible for the two to have been in the same place at the same time. For his part, Mitt has offered up some BS defense about him talking only “figuratively” about his father “marching” with MLK. Yikes!

HOWEVER: Since I am a citizen-journalist, I have done some in-depth research instead of having sex for the past five months. And, though I cannot prove decisively that Mitt’s Dad, George, actually marched with MLK, I have found photographic evidence of him doing a lot of other cool stuff with him! Check it out:

Montgomery Alabama, 1958

From left to right: George Romney, Martin Luther King Jr.

When a young Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham for leading a peaceful protest against segregated public transit, George Romney insisted on accompanying him to jail and holding his hand the whole time. They shared the same booking number, bunk and prison hooch.

Washington D.C., 1963

George Romney had a dream, too.

Little known fact: George Romney proofread MLK’s renowned speech delivered at the March on Washington. In fact King had originally written the speech as “I have some dreams,” but Romney suggested the now-famous “I have a dream,” because it totally sounds better even though the speech mentions way more than one distinct dream. If you listen closely to the archival recordings, you can hear Romney’s vigorous “Amen, brother” whenever King makes an especially salient point.

Memphis, 1968

George Romney takes one for equal rights

When James Earle Ray took aim at Martin Luther King Jr. through the scope of his high-powered hunting rifle he gauged carefully the wind, distance and speed of his target. But forgot to take into account one crucial fact: George Romney. When Romney heard the shot ring out he leaped in front of King, taking the bullet in the heart. Unfortunately, James Earle Ray had packed another bullet.

The Moon, 1969

One small step for civil rights

Like all assassinations past, present and future, the King-Romney slaying was part of an elaborate CIA conspiracy to fake the moon landing. The CIA resurrected Martin Luther King and Mitt Romney using their technology and put the two best friends in charge of lighting. Born leaders, they excelled at the movie-making business and can today be found jointly directing movies under the pseudonym George Lucas. They still hold hands all the time.